1540
- Tac HQ under command Maj C.F.H. Gough M.C. moves out, preceded by
"C" Troop and followed by "D" Troop and Support Troop.
"A" Troop report to Divisional HQ. Route is North and then East
along track which runs north of railway line but parallel to it in the direction
of Arnhem.

Rear
HQ, under command of Lieut-Q.M. Collier, is left at R.V. to guard landing zone.

1630
- Rear HQ, under command of Lieut Lickerish during the absence of Lieut-Q.M.
Collier, move to farm at 637794, which is to be used as a dump. From here
containers are collected from the landing zone.

1645
- Major Gough and Lieut McNabb leave Tac HQ and
report to Div. HQ. Wireless control Jeep of Tac HQ has to move repeatedly
- reception bad owing to number of trees.

1815
- Lieut-Q.M. Collier reports back to Rear HQ with two prisoners, and takes over
command of that party.

1830
- Tac HQ is ordered back to Divisional area 6579. Proceed with
"D" and Support Troops under command. Capt. Allsop in the
absence of Maj. Gough M.C. has taken command of the Squadron.

1900
- Major Gough M.C. reported to be at KL Zwitseland 6478. Tac HQ and Support
Troop move to contact him.

1350 - Messerschmitts
overhead. Planes veer from side to side. Ten come down in line ahead
- bursts of cannon fire strike road near our positions. Intense barrage of
Sten gun fire from R.A.s - endangers Tac HQ more than the planes.

1415 - Having lost
contact with C Troop move to 679790. Supply drop in progress - heavy
firing. One Stirling crashes near our position. Fail to pick up C
Troop.

1500 - Return to old
position 683785.

1530 - Streams of Jeeps
carrying wounded and marching men move back through our positions. Prove
to be 156 Parachute Bn who have been hit by a very strong enemy force.
Prisoners arrive from A Troop - one part of an enemy force about three hundred
strong who have cycled from a German N.C.Os school at the HAGUE.

2200 - A and D Troops
holding strong points. Wireless working well between A and D Troops, and
Tac HQ and Div HQ. Lt Lickerish acting as Liaison Officer between Tac HQ,
A and D Troops. Another silent night, but very cold.

21st September 1944

Place: Arnhem

0700 - Battery charging
motor under way. No sooner does that cheerful sound break the hush of
anticipation that the Germans open up with mortars - not much movement above
ground.

0900 - Capt Allsop
reports to Div HQ. The hoped for message - that our friends across the
river have come, is still a ruthless red pencil mark on a map in London - not
helpful here.

1000 - Germans appear to
be firing mortars to music - a definite rhythm can be heard as primary
explosions take place. The habit of crouching even though the whine of
bombs can be heard still persists.

1230 - Mortars
again. Very furious as through he did not halt us. Which may be
true. Impossible to have a meal.

1430 - Supply
drop. Very few containers in our vicinity. Pleading very lights from
Div HQ chase one another into the sky, mortar and MG fire stops. Plenty of
flak. One Trooper gets a piece of {unreadable} in the eye through
looking up.

1930 - Another boost
message from Div in code. Impossible to decode no lights. Runner
goes and collects message in chat.

2030 - Great fires east
and west - ammunition burning. For a while the impression that the Germans
are pulling out prevails. But it is soon realised that the enemy has
collected some of our containers and is burning them. Night still, heavy
dew falls.

1610 - Lt Wadsworth
leads way to A Troop, strong point turns out to be a grocery. Troop in
fine fettle. Capt Grubb, Lieuts Galbraith and Stevenson appear to be
enjoying it. Lt Galbraith has developed a technique for putting snipers
away.

0930 - Evident that
strong German attacks are being launched on all points of the perimeter.
German voices in woods opposite Tac HQ. Figures discerned but not fired
on. Impossible to move, hail of MG fire.

0945 - Typhoons down -
knocking the devil out of the enemy. Troops cheer.

1030 - Perfect silence -
no birds - uncanny.

1035 - A torrent of
mortar bombs plaster our positions.

1200 - Typhoons overhead
- Germans pretend that they are not there at all, and that they love us.

1300 - Flak guns giving
us a lash now.

1330 - 5cm flak and M.G.
whistling in the air.

1415 - Typhoons.
Once more Germans do not play.

1500 - Mortars again -
he must not like Typhoons he is so vicious. Many O.R. casualties.
Will soon be very few. Position indeed critical.

1730 - Large force of
Typhoons - we keep hoping they will stay overhead until dark.

1815 - Spiteful mortar
barrage - supported by M.G. and flak guns.

1850 - Again
Typhoons. The Germans fail to give us a good night salute for the first
time.

1930 - News that we have
to evacuate positions by 2050 hrs and cross the river Lek comes as a surprise -
but not an unpleasant one.

2000 - Troops warned.

2030 - Rations supplied
by Div H.Q. 1 tin of stew between 2 men, 1 bar of chocolate and small
packet of biscuits per man are given out.

2050 - Heavy barrage
from 30 Corps guns drowns most noise. Some fools still show themselves and
draw fire to the endangerment of others. Move out. Lt QM Collier
(1), Lt Lickerish (2), Capt Allsop (3), and Capt Costeloe (4) leading
sections. Route is across main Heelsum-Arnhem Road - south by road 691785
to 692773. The route is mainly through wood.

The following is an
account of the evacuation as written down at Nijmegen on Tuesday Sept 26th 1944
and added to following interrogation of personnel in the sections.

"We
were last section out and crossed the main Heelsum - Arnhem road, over dead line
about 2110 hrs. A fair spraying of bullets came down the road at intervals
so we ran across singly or in pairs. Once we hit the road south, bordered
by trees on both sides, we came upon the rear of a section led by Lt
Lickerish. There was plenty of halting and crouching down - this may have
been due to the number of trees which lay across the road and to the M.G. fire
which the Hun put down. It was very slow moving. The night was black
and wet, making it impossible to see the helmet or body of the man in
front. Then about 2130 hrs a clatter of Mortar Bombs came down - lighting
the woods and road with a queer blue light. The men scattered like demons
in a pantomime. I was lift off my feet with the blast of one bomb and came
to lying against the foot of a tree. There was no one about so I pushed on
quickly and eventually contacted two of my section at a place where there was a
clearing on the right. An M.G. was firing at us so we dashed pretty fast
across until we came, more or less, under cover. Everything went alright
then until we came to a T. junction. Here we saw some figures standing in
the shadow of some houses opposite and slightly to our left. Having our
previous experience in our minds we went as quietly as we could to our right,
which proved to be the correct way. After much blundering about we hit
into the tail of an enormous snake of men. Every unit seemed to be there,
but our own. Utmost confusion - no one caring whether he showed over the
sky line or not. We went on finally contacting the end of our section near
the beach. Again the Hun tossed over mortar bombs and many personnel were
wounded. There was plenty of screaming. A boat turned over too -
terrible cries. Shortly after I contacted Capt Allsop who was wounded in
the left thigh. We got in the same boat together - squatting near the
bow. Half way across the water lapped over the bow, and shouting to the
others to move down, the night was saved. On the other side Capt Allsop
and self walked almost to Dreel, where we were given one bar of chocolate each -
which we ate, having lost our ration in the move out. Here Cpl {unreadable},
Dutch N.C.O. attached to us, met us, and all three went to the R.A.P. where Capt
Allsop had his wound dressed. From there we headed south and sheltered in
a farm house 687723. The people gave us porridge and we slept in straw
wrapped in blankets. This was about 0130 hrs on Tuesday. At 0900 hrs
an officer of the R.E. took us to Nijmegen in a jeep - racing across the bridge
as it was under shell fire - where we left Capt Allsop at the 10 C.C.S.

Most
sections experienced similar incidents, as for instance Capt Costeloe and his
section. Here, a figure loomed up out of the darkness and challenged them
in a guttural voice. S.Q.M.S. Holderness who was with the section went
over to investigate, calling out, as he did so, that they were friends.
Bursts of M.G. fire came immediately and the section had to scatter.

All
sections did make the crossing, all had casualties and their experiences through
the woods and on the river bank were on a par with the first account set
down. The unit crossed between the hours of 2330 hrs and 0300 hrs Tuesday
26 Sept. Reason being few boats and many moles.